Is there more money in my future ?

Little about me I'm 27 years old no college other then pre requisites, lots of line cook experience and good track record, my buddy who was head/execuive chef at a large wedding banquet hall (feeds roughly 20k ppl a year) moved out of state, offered me his job and I was crazy enough to take it, been doing it for almost 2 years now with no prior head chef experience. Anyways, I love the field, love running a kitchen love mainting food costs and pricing stuff out...but a big turn off is my employer offers NO benefits at all..and I only get paid 19 an hr...am I under paid? I know this is a stepping stone but in almost 30 I can't live off this forever, is there hope to live a good financial life in this field? I can't see myself doing anything other then cooking.

Welcome to ChefTalk Chef.
Let's see here....line cook experience only....no schooling, never been a head Chef.....large banquet hall that only feeds 20,000 people a year
No benefits and $19.00 per hour...actually less as you are working more hours.....yup that seems about right.

You are under no obligation to stay there. Have you tried looking at different places in your area?
Have you thought about putting together a resume and sending it out?

I've been through this grind many times in the early years of my career. I learned the more eager you are in an interview the less money you get. You need to get yourself in a position to be "Sought-after" and not the one seeking. This first happened to me when I was Chef manager of a private club. I happened to have a convention at my club with board members from other clubs attending the convention. Everything went well and everyone was happy with the results. I was interviewed by four other boards to come run their club. Long story short I didn't want to relocate and turned down the offers. My board never knew how much I was offered or why I didn't take the offers. When it came time to negotiate, my board was in a different position. When they talked between themselves the questions were not how much they should offer as an increase in pay, it was what do we need to do to keep him happy and staying here. The only time you can negotiate for more money is when the ball is in your court. Every Chef needs to show their worth to the owners. If an owner feels he could hire anyone to do what they do then these's no way in Hell your making more money. When customers are showing up at the restaurant because of what you do and how you do it, then it's a different story. You need to make yourself un-replacable. Or at least real important to the future success of the restaurant. This happens to many Chefs when they get comfortable in a position. In many cases their hours get workable and they have two days off a week with less pressure. The menu is doing well the owner is happy with what they're doing. No one is making waves, all the cooks are showing up, life is good.
To make a long story shorter. You need to be important to your operation. When someone came to me for a raise, I measured their worth to the success of the operation. I also look at their loyalty and willingness to help me succeed in my operation.
If I'm not making the amount of money I think I deserve, it's my fault! I remember a GM told me many years ago if you want to make more money you better be able to talk turkey..........Good Luck.......ChefBillyB

Thanks for the reply chef, I'm in the process of looking for other places and seeing what they offer but wouldn't it be wise to stay and get experience under my belt with my title seeing as I don't have any schooling to back me up?

Welcome to ChefTalk Chef.
Let's see here....line cook experience only....no schooling, never been a head Chef.....large banquet hall that only feeds 20,000 people a year
No benefits and $19.00 per hour...actually less as you are working more hours.....yup that seems about right.

You are under no obligation to stay there. Have you tried looking at different places in your area?
Have you thought about putting together a resume and sending it out?

Thanks for the long reply chef, I know iambunreplacable at this place. I have the lease amount of turnover, best food and labor cost out of any chef that's stepped foot here. Im ambitous, changed the menu and started cooking as much as I can by scratch, chefs before me were using all pre made shit not caring about the cleanliness of the kitchen either so I show my value.i guess I'm lost man I don't wanna go to school i wanna live my life doing my passion my dream job i just hope my sense of reality isnt clouded by that.

I've been through this grind many times in the early years of my career. I learned the more eager you are in an interview the less money you get. You need to get yourself in a position to be "Sought-after" and not the one seeking. This first happened to me when I was Chef manager of a private club. I happened to have a convention at my club with board members from other clubs attending the convention. Everything went well and everyone was happy with the results. I was interviewed by four other boards to come run their club. Long story short I didn't want to relocate and turned down the offers. My board never knew how much I was offered or why I didn't take the offers. When it came time to negotiate, my board was in a different position. When they talked between themselves the questions were not how much they should offer as an increase in pay, it was what do we need to do to keep him happy and staying here. The only time you can negotiate for more money is when the ball is in your court. Every Chef needs to show their worth to the owners. If an owner feels he could hire anyone to do what they do then these's no way in Hell your making more money. When customers are showing up at the restaurant because of what you do and how you do it, then it's a different story. You need to make yourself un-replacable. Or at least real important to the future success of the restaurant. This happens to many Chefs when they get comfortable in a position. In many cases their hours get workable and they have two days off a week with less pressure. The menu is doing well the owner is happy with what they're doing. No one is making waves, all the cooks are showing up, life is good.
To make a long story shorter. You need to be important to your operation. When someone came to me for a raise, I measured their worth to the success of the operation. I also look at their loyalty and willingness to help me succeed in my operation.
If I'm not making the amount of money I think I deserve, it's my fault! I remember a GM told me many years ago if you want to make more money you better be able to talk turkey..........Good Luck.......ChefBillyB

Thanks for all the replies, I don't have alot of chefs I can talk to around here so I appreciate the input. All in all I'm just nervous 5 years from now I'll regret hoping in this field and to all the ppl saying "leave now while u can" u can politey f off I hate miserable chefs I know success is out there for anyone willing to put the hard work and effort into it

Thanks for the long reply chef, I know iambunreplacable at this place. I have the lease amount of turnover, best food and labor cost out of any chef that's stepped foot here. Im ambitous, changed the menu and started cooking as much as I can by scratch, chefs before me were using all pre made shit not caring about the cleanliness of the kitchen either so I show my value.i guess I'm lost man I don't wanna go to school i wanna live my life doing my passion my dream job i just hope my sense of reality isnt clouded by that.

Click to expand...

ChefMike, now take what you just told me to you boss. I think you make a good case. I've made the same case to my bosses in past years. Some agreed and some didn't realize my worth until I left. I feel if I'm working and giving my all for my company I expect to be treated fairly.
I think at your age your alright doing what your doing and gaining experience along the way. My feeling is "no one gets rich" by working for someone else. The end result of any Chef should be trying to have their own food service/restaurant. This will give you a much higher opportunity of making as much money as you can in this business. I think after all the years of working my ass off I deserved a chance to making money on 100% of my ability. By working for someone else I may only get 50% reimbursement for my talents......I may be advancing your thinking for a later time in your life. I also think I may be giving you something to work for........Good Luck.......ChefBillyB

For me the truth was that my current work set the stage for my next career move. My current employer may not have seen exactly where I fit in their organization? However my next employer always would. It explains a lot about restaurant inconsistency if you think about it. Talent retention in food service? Its a big joke.

For me the truth was that my current work set the stage for my next career move. My current employer may not have seen exactly where I fit in their organization? However my next employer always would. It explains a lot about restaurant inconsistency if you think about it. Talent retention in food service? Its a big joke.

For me the truth was that my current work set the stage for my next career move. My current employer may not have seen exactly where I fit in their organization? However my next employer always would. It explains a lot about restaurant inconsistency if you think about it. Talent retention in food service? Its a big joke.

ChefMike09, Just some senior thoughts here and only my personal feelings.
Chefbillyb give you some direction that you may want to pursue down the road. Going to need a lot more experience with numbers to go there. Just getting some basic accounting or bookkeeping knowledge along the way will be the only way to enjoy ownership. Until you know, financially, where your business stands daily, you can't make enough money to compensate for the worry.
The troubling part for you is that your employer no benefits at all. Have you been in discussions with ownership about benefits and compensation? I have to believe tweaking your work pattern to work a little smarter as you go will not require great amounts of labor hours feeding 3-400pp weekly.
I would also take the time to do your due diligence or homework in your own backyard. Are your sales people on commission or salary. Do outside coordinators who bring in business get a kick or discounted price. Things of that nature. I mention this in case you have not actually addressed your employer with the tools and ammunition to back up the other qualities you stated that you bring to the company.
Don't take for granted the ownership knows how you are thinking. They too, can get so deep into the forest, they can't see the trees. Sometimes if you rationally take them by the hand, and guide them outside the forest, they will see the assets standing right in front of them.
Just some babble as I enjoy a cup of coffee and take a break from the January tax duties. Oh, and ownership, there are quite a number of labors spent doing work for the government. ie. collecting payroll tax your employees owe to the gov't. etc. The pay for those hours is $ 0.00 per hour.
Good luck to you, you sound like you've got your head screwed on properly. You'll more than likely make the right decision.

ChefMike09, Just some senior thoughts here and only my personal feelings.
Chefbillyb give you some direction that you may want to pursue down the road. Going to need a lot more experience with numbers to go there. Just getting some basic accounting or bookkeeping knowledge along the way will be the only way to enjoy ownership. Until you know, financially, where your business stands daily, you can't make enough money to compensate for the worry.
The troubling part for you is that your employer no benefits at all. Have you been in discussions with ownership about benefits and compensation? I have to believe tweaking your work pattern to work a little smarter as you go will not require great amounts of labor hours feeding 3-400pp weekly.
I would also take the time to do your due diligence or homework in your own backyard. Are your sales people on commission or salary. Do outside coordinators who bring in business get a kick or discounted price. Things of that nature. I mention this in case you have not actually addressed your employer with the tools and ammunition to back up the other qualities you stated that you bring to the company.
Don't take for granted the ownership knows how you are thinking. They too, can get so deep into the forest, they can't see the trees. Sometimes if you rationally take them by the hand, and guide them outside the forest, they will see the assets standing right in front of them.
Just some babble as I enjoy a cup of coffee and take a break from the January tax duties. Oh, and ownership, there are quite a number of labors spent doing work for the government. ie. collecting payroll tax your employees owe to the gov't. etc. The pay for those hours is $ 0.00 per hour.
Good luck to you, you sound like you've got your head screwed on properly. You'll more than likely make the right decision.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the inspiration chef. I have talked to my gm, he promises me more money in the future and even is offering to pay me thru culinary school at community college but due to financial restraints cannot give me more then 19 right now unless I wanna have just 1 staff member on hand, which I was actually just bumped up to from 18 by the way which I had asked for myself, gm himself even said "back in the day" they paid there chefs 50k a year plus benefits, establishment I guess u can say let itself go a bit and I know this because I worked here for 5 years in highschool as a line cook and boy o boy...its went down hill u should of seen my kitchen and staff when I first came back, now my kitchen is on track. It's a struggle giving my staff hrs and pay they deserve because "they can't afford it this month" other departments are a disaster. I'm alrdy living my dream as being a chef well it might not be at the best ran facility..but I see this place as a stepping stone..maybe 1 more year here if they can' afford me I move on, I'd love to own my own business as you stated.

Thanks for the long reply chef, I know iambunreplacable at this place. I have the lease amount of turnover, best food and labor cost out of any chef that's stepped foot here. Im ambitous, changed the menu and started cooking as much as I can by scratch, chefs before me were using all pre made shit not caring about the cleanliness of the kitchen either so I show my value.i guess I'm lost man I don't wanna go to school i wanna live my life doing my passion my dream job i just hope my sense of reality isnt clouded by that.

Click to expand...

The fact that you have done these things to improve your kitchen is honorable but it is still standard operating procedures so, in essence, you are simply doing your job.

This is not written to put you down or for you to take personally. I think you are a product of the times. Read Panini's post then read your post. Can you see the difference in the vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling? I know you do not want (wanna) to go to school, but please work to improve your communication skills. I am an old fossil but I cannot believe proper writing is not required in the business community today. Good luck, I do not mean to offend.

This is not written to put you down or for you to take personally. I think you are a product of the times. Read Panini's post then read your post. Can you see the difference in the vocabulary, sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling? I know you do not want (wanna) to go to school, but please work to improve your communication skills. I am an old fossil but I cannot believe proper writing is not required in the business community today. Good luck, I do not mean to offend.

Click to expand...

Haha, no offense taken chef I'm very literate and well spoken I guess I just get a little sloppy talking via internet forums, but on a professional level i cross my t's and dot my i's when needed.